Rationale

One of the major contemporary issues facing virtually all organisations is hyper competition and the exponential rate of change occurring in highly complex and dynamic environments within which they operate - both externally and internally. There is a constant drive for organisational change - not only to survive but to be able to compete and be successful and sustainable. It is essential for you as a leader, manager or change agent to be familiar with and have competence in the area of leading organisational change. More than ever before, you as a leader, manager or change agent need to focus on the continuous renewal of your organisation(s) on various fronts. You not only need to know how to go about leading and managing change for improved organisational performance and sustainability, but also be more sensitive to your own ability to change yourself. In this course you will be required to demonstrate your practical ability to take part in or evaluate some change management programs and interventions in particular contexts.

Synopsis

The course starts with a typical introductory perspective which assists you to understand the nature of change, some meta-models of change and consider change complexities and drivers of change. It considers how to manage change and provides some guiding principles for change and how to resolve some of the dilemmas of change. The first section ends with a consideration on designing organisations and the internationalism of change. The course then moves on to the key area of diagnosis and interventions and provides information on the processes involved and details information on such interventions as self-designing organisation, the learning organisation, interventions for people and process, interventions for strategy and structure and closes with diagnosis and interventions for organisational transformation and change in unpredictable environments. The last module considers issues in managing organisational change, including change paths, key factors in managing change, processes that humans undergo, the differences between hard and soft interventions and their impact. The course ends with a consideration of change in a global setting.

Objectives

On successful completion of this course students should be able to:

demonstrate an understanding of the complex nature of change as well as those factors that affect and enhance prospects for planned organisational change

articulate a perspective on the contextual and conceptual foundations of organisational change

demonstrate an understanding of the processes and many of the strategies and techniques which can be applied to lead, manage and facilitate organisational change

demonstrate their ability to take part in or evaluate some change management programs and interventions, in different contexts

identify and solve complex organisational problems creatively and practically to increase the effectiveness of change management

demonstrate an understanding of the impact of interpersonal communication on specific management processes and outcomes using relevant theories and concepts as applied to change

comprehend and address complex ethical dilemmas as applied to change

demonstrate an understanding of complex sustainable dilemmas and the need for responsible leadership in change

demonstrate the skills required for leadership of others, working in teams and working with people from diverse cultural and professional backgrounds in real time spaces

communicate professionally and effectively in written communication to various audiences to achieve targeted outcome.

Topics

Description

Weighting(%)

1.

The nature of organisational change

25.00

2.

Interventions and techniques

40.00

3.

Issues in managing organisational change

35.00

Text and materials required to be purchased or accessed

ALL textbooks and materials available to be purchased can be sourced from USQ's Online Bookshop (unless otherwise stated). (https://bookshop.usq.edu.au/bookweb/subject.cgi?year=2013&sem=02&subject1=MGT8033)

Student workload requirements

Assessment details

Description

Marks out of

Wtg (%)

Due Date

Notes

QUIZ - REVIEW

5

5

04 Aug 2013

INDIVIDUAL CASE STUDY 1

100

35

01 Sep 2013

INDIVIDUAL CASE STUDY 2

100

60

20 Oct 2013

Important assessment information

Attendance requirements:
If you are an international student in Australia, you are advised to attend all classes at your campus. For all other students, there are no attendance requirements for this course. However, it is the students' responsibility to study all material provided to them or required to be accessed by them to maximise their chance of meeting the objectives of the course and to be informed of course-related activities and administration.

Requirements for students to complete each assessment item satisfactorily:
To satisfactorily complete an individual assessment item a student must achieve at least 50% of the marks. (Depending upon the requirements in Statement 4 below, students may not have to satisfactorily complete each assessment item to receive a passing grade in this course.)

Penalties for late submission of required work:
If students submit assignments after the due date without prior approval of the examiner, then a penalty of 5% of the total marks gained by the student for the assignment may apply for each working day late up to ten working days at which time a mark of zero may be recorded.

Requirements for student to be awarded a passing grade in the course:
To be assured of receiving a passing grade a student must achieve at least 50% of the total weighted marks available for the course.

Method used to combine assessment results to attain final grade:
The final grades for students will be assigned on the basis of the aggregate of the weighted marks obtained for each of the summative assessment items in the course.

Examination information:
There is no examination for this course.

Examination period when Deferred/Supplementary examinations will be held:
Not applicable.

University Student Policies:
Students should read the USQ policies: Definitions, Assessment and Student Academic Misconduct to avoid actions which might contravene University policies and practices. These policies can be found at http://policy.usq.edu.au.

Assessment notes

Quiz – review is an electronic quiz that can be accessed on the study desk.

Word limit for assignments: Where a word limit is set for an assignment, then students must not exceed the word limit by greater that 10% of the word limit. Where a student exceeds the word limit by greater than 10% of the word limit, a penalty of 10% of the available marks for the assignment will apply.

Prior to submission, you must process your assignments through 'Turn-it-in'. A submission tab is available in the discussion forum for each assignment on the MGT8033 study desk. You select the Turn-it-in hyperlink and attach your file for checking. Once it has been checked a similarity index hyperlink will appear next to your document name. Click on this link and you can then download this file in PDF or HTML. This will provide you with similarity information and you can adjust your file as is needed before submitting your assignment for marking. Once you are happy with your assignment, it MUST be lodged electronically in Word format via the EASE system. You can access the EASE system via the course home page for MGT8033 in the study desk, accessible via UConnect. The assignment must be submitted by 11.59pm Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST). No hard copies will be accepted. Students should note the penalties detailed in the assignment marking criteria for various breaches of USQ regulations such as plagiarism in its different forms. Students are advised to access the University link about communication skills located on the MGT8033 course home page to make sure that their writing skills are at an appropriate level. Where a word length is set for an assignment, then students must not exceed the word length by greater than 10% of the word limit. Where a student exceeds the word length by greater than 10% of the word limit, a penalty of 10% of the available marks for the assignment will apply.

Referencing in assignments: Harvard (AGPS) is the referencing system required in this course. Students should use Harvard (AGPS) style in their assignments to format details of the information sources they have cited in their work. The Harvard (AGPS) style to be used is defined by the USQ Library's referencing guide at http://www.usq.edu.au/library/referencing.